Venn diagrams in Powerpoint 2004 Mac

[robin.einzig]

Hi--

I'm at my wits end. I recently switched from WindowsXP to a Mac. I am
thrilled with the Mac, and have no complaints, EXCEPT....in trying to
use Powerpoint 2004 for Mac, I can't seem to find anywhere where I can
create or insert a Venn diagram (or in any other Office 2004 Mac
software, either). In Windows XP, I just clicked on Diagrams and boom,
it was in there. PLEASE tell me that it's still in there somewhere,
and if so, how do I do it?? Thanks so much in advance!

Robin

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

You can easily create your own Venn diagrams by using the autoshapes on
the drawing toolbar (View > Toolbars > Drawing).

If you have a presentation with a Venn diagram that was created in
Windows, just copy one into a blank presentation and save it as a
template so you can have it whenever you want.

Mac office does not come with a built-in Venn diagram. If you think you
would like this feature use the Help menu to send feedback to Microsoft.

-Jim

 

[robin.einzig]

Thanks, Jim, for your quick response. Yes, I realized that I could use
autoshapes, but the Venn diagram in XP does that overlap thing just
beautifully all by itself, and it also blends the two colors to make a
perfect third color, something that is tough to do with autoshapes. I
will send that to Microsoft.

Good idea...I'll retrieve the one from Windows, and see how it works.

Robin

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

The blend of colors is actually quite easy with autoshapes. There are
several ways to get at the format dialog box (control-click > format
shape is one way). Simply make the shapes semi-transparent. If you
overlap a blue one and a yellow one you'll get green, for example.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Robin-

Just wanted to throw in a couple of comments.

First, Jim's idea on using transparency for overlapping shapes is a
very useful technique. I've discovered that one on my own and most who
have seen my stuff had never even thought about it. The one
consideration is that it will have a tendency to "fade" the color of
the shapes you apply transparency to, so you may want to use deeper
shades if you go that route.

Secondly, the sad truth is that regardless of what they may lead us to
believe, the Office apps for Mac lack many of the features in the
Windows versions. PPt is not the only culprit. The shortfall ranges
from things as simple as not being able to Cmd+click toolbars to get a
list of toolbars to more sophisticated features such as Web Queries in
Excel...not to mention the total ommission of Access in the MacOffice
"Professional".

Please understand that I am not bashing what we DO get on the Mac, just
pointing out that there are a lot more differences than most realize if
they don't utilize both platforms.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi CyberTaz,

There certainly are differences between the Windows and Macintosh
operating systems and the versions of Office that work with each. At one
time Microsoft sold a version of Office that was identical for both Mac
and Windows (version 4.2.1). Mac users hated it. Word 6 was reviled as
horrible compared with Word 5. As a consequence, the Macintosh Business
Unit was created within Microsoft to avoid such a marketing catastrophe.

Pleas to have Mac Office be feature-for-feature identical with the
Windows version are likely to fall on deaf ears at Microsoft. "Been
there. Done that." Microsoft fell flat on its face when it was tried.

Since bringing out Office 98 the philosphy has been for Mac and Windows
office to be file compatible, meaning each version could open, work
with, and save to the same format. That's not to say each version will
have all the same features and capabilities. They won't. It's
intentional. Each version of office has features that others do not. New
features are added. Sometimes features are dropped. You should choose
the version that has the feature set you want most.

You want OpenSource Active-X (some folks consider this a plague)? Then
get the Windows version. You want MS Access? Gotta get the Windows
version. You want compatibility checker? Gotta get the Mac version. You
want something like OneNote but without having to buy a whole separate
application? You want Word 2004 for Mac. You want it all? Buy Office
2004 plus virtual PC with Office Professional 2003 for Windows. Not
everyone needs this solution, but there are probably a few who can use
it (I do).

As for the Venn diagram. I could write a little something that could add
the same sort of diagram for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. But the
diagram they give you in the Windows version is so lame I would be
embarrased to offer it. As I mentioned to you in previous postings, if
this is a feature you really want, then use the feedback feature on the
help menu and send in a request.

Concerning the web query feature of Windows Excel - I presume you are
referring to the funky web-browser thing. I have mixed feelings about
that feature. It's powerful and handy, for sure. The actual
implementation of it is clunky and hard to work with. You can't even
re-size the window (might be fixed in 2003, haven't used it lately). As
a result of a lawsuit settlement Microsoft is no longer making web
browsers. Getting this feature into Mac Excel would probably be going
against the court settlement. Microsoft is out of the web browser
business for the time being, so even if we want this feature on the Mac
I doubt that Microsoft could offer it.

-Jim